Machine for removing moisture from absorbent pads



A. PALMIERI Jan. 5 1937.

MACHINE FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM ABSORBENT PADS Filed July 26, 1935 (9545mm. 57/171510 (do A TTORNEY Patented Jan. 5, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE Armando Palmieri, Erie, Pa., assignor of onehalf to Paul A. Stephany, Erie, Pa.

Application July 26,

4 Claims.

In waving hair, as in the production of permanent waves, pads of absorbent material are used, soaked or saturated with a chemical solution, which are placed about the respective curls of hair between the latter and the heaters of the apparatus or machine. Each of these pads is a substantially square or oblong piece of cloth or felt that readily absorbs the solution and is attached at one edge to a little larger piece or sheet of liquid proof material such as tin foil which forms a wrapper or enclosure for the saturated sheet when wrapped about the curl of hair. In the ordinary practice in establishments where hair waving is done, an operator dips the pads in the solution and then, before applying the pad to the hair, removes from the pad the excess solution by squeezing the same in her hands.

' There are various objections to this practice.

The chemical solution used is hurtful or injurious to the skin or flesh. It is insanitary because there may be eruptions or sores on the hands of the operator. Uniformity of degree of moisture throughout the individual pads cannot be secured, and such uniformity is important both as to the hair of an individual or single curl and all of the curls of the head being treated, which may be as many as thirty-five or forty, the result being unsatisfactory waves. An object of my invention is the provision of a machine which will dispense with hand manipulation and thus eliminate the objectionable features or incidents thereof mentioned, and which will result in other important advantages such as the saving of time in the preparation of the pads for use and avoiding waste of the solution which accompanies hand manipulation.

While my invention has as a particular object the production of a machine with the advantages mentioned, and which will hereinafter be more fully set forth, for the preparation for use of the chemical soaked pads, and the machine has special features of construction for that particular use, it is to be understood that as to those characteristics or features of my invention which are available in other relations, I consider the scope of my invention as not restricted to the pad preparing machine which I show in the drawing as illustrating an embodimentof my invention and described hereinafter in detail. Ac cordingly, my invention consists in whatever is described by or is included within the terms or scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hair pad pre- 1935, Serial No. 33,369

paring machine embodying my invention, a pad being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof with the parts in the positions they occupy ready to receive a pad or pads from which excess solution is to be removed, several pads being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the position of the parts when the wringing or squeezing roller has completed its travel and is ready to return to starting position.

Briefly describing, preliminarily to a detailed description thereof, the machine shown in the drawing, it comprises a soaked pad supporting stationary surface and a movable, pad-engaging,

squeezing member that is movable to and fro over such surface so as to traverse the soaked portion of the pad from edge to edge and which has pressure contact with the pad when moving in one direction thereover and is held out of contact therewith in moving in the opposite direction or on the return travel thereof, thus not disturbing the pad on the return travel, and upon the completion of the return travel exposing the pad for removal for use in the hair waving machine. Such machine has means to securely hold the pad from movement over the stationary supporting surface while the squeezing member acts upon the pad, and such means in the machine shown is a clamp device that acts upon one edge of the pad or pads (if more than one pad is being operated on at the same time) which is automatically operated to clamp and to release the pad at the proper times.

Describing in detail the machine shown in the drawing, it has a fiat base iii of oblong form, from opposite sides of which rise two side frames I I between which side frames extends, and is supported thereby, a plate 2 with an outer curved face whose curvature is the arc of a circle and which constitutes the stationary pad support over which the squeezing or wringing member, which is a roller I3, passes. The upper edges of the side frames H are circular and concentric with the curvature of the outer face of the plate l2 and they project above the latter and between the projecting portions extends the roller [3 whose opposite ends are adjacent the inner sides of said side frame.

The roller It has a central shaft it that projects beyond each end of the roller and is journalled to revolve in the parallel side arms I5 of a U-shaped frame from the cross-bar of which projects radially a handle IS, the arms l5 at the ends opposite the handle being each mounted on a pivot I1 on the outer side of the side frames II. The pivots I! are concentric with the convexly curved outer surfacev of the pad supporting plate l2. Each roller carrying arm l5 has a radially extending slot I8 near its outer end in which the roller shaft may bodily move so that the roller may move towards and from the pad supporting surface of the plate 12 and the roller is yieldingly pulled to and held by spring means with the shaft [4 towards the inner ends of the slots and into pressure contact with the pad or pads on the plate l2. As shown, such spring means are a looped coil spring 19 at each end of the shaft I4 outside of the arm l5, which at one end of the loop engages a grooved collar 28 on the shaft end and the other loop engages a similar grooved collar 2| secured to the arm Q5. The two collars are on the opposite sides of the roller carrying arm pivot l1. When the roller has completed its squeezing swing over the pad or pads and is to be moved in the reverse direction without contact with the just squeezed pad or pads, the springs will act to hold the roller shaft ends in a lateral offset or jog 22 at the outer end of the slot l8 that is situated so that when the roller shaft ends are in the same the roller will be raised the desired clearing distance from the pad or pads on the plate l2, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. To shift the roller radially outward to seat its shaft ends in the slot offset 22 there is an arm 23 pivoted to each frame side II on a transverse shaft 24 from which the arms extend radially outward, each with a hook 25 at its outer end adapted to be engaged by a shaft end when the roller passes beyond the pad or pads on the plate I2, and the arms 23 being shorter than and eccentric to the roller arm pivots ll, continued movement of the roller with its shaft ends in contact with the hooks of the arms 23 will result in the roller being moved radially outward in the slotted arms l5 into position to move the shaft ends into the slot offsets 22 where they remain under the pull of the springs !9, during the return movement of the roller to starting position.

A spring 230 on the shaft 25, acting on a radial arm 250 on the shaft 25, yieldingly holds the hook carrying arm 23 in position for engagement by the ends of shaft l4. When the roller reaches starting position its periphery at each end strikes a lug 26 in the path thereof, which bodily moves the roller in the direction to dislodge its shaft ends from the slot offset 22, whereupon the springs are free to move the roller bodily inward for squeezing contact with the pad or pads on the next wringing or squeezing operation.

, The roller shifting lugs 26 are conveniently fixed to or carried by a plate or bar 2'! which extends between the side frames l l and forward of the roller l3 when in its retracted position in contact with the lugs 26 is a pad clamping edge or jaw 28 movable towards and from the matchingst'ationary jaw 29 on the adjacent edge of the plate l2. When the jaws are in the open position shown in Fig. 2 the tin foil portions of the pad or pads to be squeezed are inserted in the space between them and the movable jaw 28 is then moved to clamp such portions of the pad or pads with the absorbent portion lying upon the convexly curved outer side of the plate l2. The forward movement of the roller l3 over the outer surface of the clamp carrying arm 2'! will rock the latter to produce the clamping action of the jaws upon the transverse pivot 30 upon which the plate or bar 21 is rockinglv mounted. Such aoozooi pivot 38 is so located that when the roller I3 is in the position shown n Fig. 2, in contact with the lugs 26, the clamp jaw 28 will be swung away from the stationary jaw 29 and when the roller moves forward its contact with the arm 21 in advance of the pivot 30 will rock the clamp 28 into clamping position. Thus automatically, by the engagement by the roller l3 with the clamp carrying arm 21, the clamp will be rocked into pad clamping or pad unclamping positions. Jaw opening movement of bar 2'! is limited by a stop 2'10. Preferably a spring 3| is provided to act upon the clamp carrying bar or arm 21 to rock the latter into clamping position when the roller moves forward from the lugs 26 and the roller has passed beyond the arm 21 so that is assured, by the action of the spring, that the clamp hold on the pad or pads will be maintained. To hold the roller from accidental forward movement it seats in a shallow groove in bar 21.

Just beyond the point where the roller passes off the squeezed pad or pads a cross bar 32 extends between the frame sides Il adjacent the plate l2 which has a longitudinal slot 33 next to the plate so that solution squeezed out of the pads will be caught or trapped by the cross bar or lip 32 and will pass or flow downward through the slot 33 into the solution holding tray 34 removably placed upon the base In in a convenient position for the operator to place pads to be soaked or saturated with the solution in the latter in the tray 34. The pads, held by the tin foil part thereof, can readily be thrust or placed in the solution in the tray without risk of placing the fingers themselves in the solution, and thereby a downwardly and forwardly extending arm 35' movable vertically between positions above the tray or solution therein and one lower down which arm has parallel cross bars 35 that act as depressers upon pads placed in the tray to force them down into the solution. Said tray also has" a downwardly and rearwardly extending arm 31 in position at its lower end to be engaged by the rear end of the. tray 34 when the latter is slid into position on the base i0 and upon rearward movement of the tray said arm will rock the depresser' arm 35 downward. The arm 31 having a spring, or by being weighted to overbalance the depresser arm, will automatically lift the depressor arm out of the tray. It will be observed that the solution tray 34 is directly below the lower end of the pad supporting surface I 2 so that the act of removing a pad or pads from the tray and placing them on the supporting plate I2 may most easily and conveniently be done, simply by holding on to the tin foil protector attachment end of the pad and lifting the latter thereby upward and passing it over the convexly curved surface I2 and thrusting the tin foil edge between the open clamping jaws. I

It will be evident that either a single pad or a large number of pads at one time may be squeezed by a machine embodying my invention, such as is illustrated in the drawing. And whether a single pad or a number are simultaneously squeezed, the quantity of solution required and necessary for the best results in hair waving will be uniform throughout each pad. The pads, as they come from the machine, will be free from wrinkles or twists and Will be perfectly smooth, not requiring, as in the case of hand wringing, which results in wrinkles and twists, straightening or smoothing out for application to the hair. This means saving time which would be consumed in the smoothing or straightening operation necessary with hand wringing. And besides, a better looking pad results, and to the feminine taste, looks or appearance are important.

Because of the uniformity of the product from the machine, two girls or operators, should occasion require, can provide pads for simultaneous use on one waving machine and this cannot be satisfactorily done where the wringing of the pads is done by hand.

An important advantage of uniformity of the solution content of all the pads used in waving the hair of one subject is that, as the temperature of the machine is uniform for all of the curls, all will be, waved alike and the operator need inspect only one and finding it to be properly waved knows that all are properly waved.

If it be desired to vary or regulate the solution content of a pad that can be easily accomplished, either by varying the speed with which the roller is moved over the pad or by moving the roller several times over the pad or pads While on the supporting plate.

The parts of my machine may be made of any suitable material. The roller may be of rubber, wood or metal, and the pad support of some rigid material. All parts exposed to the solution may be of a material not affected thereby, or having a protective surface coating. The machine shown in the drawing is very simple in construction, small and compact, and very easily operated by an unskilled person.

What I claim is:-

1. Apparatus for removing liquid from a liquid absorbent pad comprising a pad supporting surface, a member movable over said surface adapted to contact with a pad disposed on said surface to squeeze the moisture from said pad, means for automatically positioning and holding said member away from said pad upon its reverse movement, said member being returned automatically to an operative position upon the completion of its reverse movement, and means for automatically clamping said pad before it is contacted by the squeezing member and for unclamping said pad upon the completion of the reverse movement of the squeezing member.

2. Apparatus for removing liquid from a liquid absorbent pad comprising a convexly-curved pad supporting surface, a roller movable over said surface in contact with said pad thereon to squeeze the moisture from said pad, means for automatically positioning and holding said roller away from said pad upon the reverse movement of said roller, said roller being returned automatically to an operative position upon the completion of the reverse movement of the roller, and means for clamping said pad on said pad supporting surface and unclamping said pad upon the completion of the reverse movement of the roller comprising a tiltable member, and a spring normally urging said tiltable member to a closed locking position but movable out of a locking position when the roller has completed its reverse movement.

3. Apparatus for removing liquid from a liquid absorbent pad comprising a pad supporting surface, a roller movable to and fro over said surface and operating to squeeze the moisture from said pad upon one of said movements of the roller, a slotted handle member supporting said roller, means for yieldingly urging said roller towards said surface upon the movement of said roller in one direction to squeeze the moisture from said pad, a pivoted arm for engaging said roller to automatically move it away from said surface upon completion of the operative movement of the roller, means for automatically placing the roller in an operative position upon completion of the reverse movement of the roller, and means for automatically clamping and unclamping said pad upon said pad supporting surface.

4. Apparatus for removing liquid from a liquid absorbent pad comprising a pad supporting surface, a member movable to and fro over said surface, a vertically movable roller carried by said member for engaging said surface, means for yieldingly urging said roller towards said surface to squeeze the moisture from said pad upon movement of said roller over said surface, means for automatically moving and positioning said roller out of contact with said surface upon completion of the operative stroke of the roller, means for automatically positioning said roller in an operative position upon completion of its reverse inoperative movement, and means for clamping and unclamping said pad upon said surface automatically before the operative stroke and after the inoperative stroke respectively.

ARMANDO PALMIERI. 

